Nursery generates thousands of plants for wildflower sites

Thousands of plants have been grown locally to boost a Council biodiversity project.

The Council’s local provenance tree nursery at Green Gates Farm, St Asaph, has produced nearly 8,000 plants during its first growing season.

The nursery has been funded by the Welsh Government, through the Local Nature Partnerships Cymru ENRaW project and Local Places for Nature grant.

And following the Council’s declaration of a Climate and Ecological Emergency in 2019, the project is part of an ongoing commitment to enhancing biodiversity across the county.

Thirty types of wildflower plants have been grown at the nursery, including bristly oxtongue, cat’s ear, goat’s beard, hound’s tongue and rough hawkbit.

The plants grown will be taken to existing wildflower meadows across the county to boost the range of flowers at the sites and maintain local biodiversity.

The nursery is also on course to produce over a 1,000 trees that will be planted across selected woodland sites in the county to support the local environment.

Councillor Barry Mellor, Lead Member for Environment and Transport, said: “We are really pleased with the results of the first year’s crop of wildflowers at the nursery. Our biodiversity team is currently planning distribution to those wildflower sites across the county that need extra support to mature and I look forward to seeing more colours and variety appearing at meadows next year.

“We are also extremely grateful to the fantastic volunteers who have helped us achieve this number of plants by giving up their time to help out at the nursery.”

“We are keen to continue our volunteering opportunities for anyone who has an interest in the local environment, keen plant growers or those who generally want to learn more about the biodiversity projects the Council runs, especially as we approach the outside planting season.”

If you would like to volunteer, please get in touch at biodiversity@denbighshire.gov.uk.